Grants and Honors: Recognizing Faculty Achievement

The University’s renowned faculty members continually win professional-achievement awards from prestigious organizations as well as research grants from government agencies, farsighted foundations and leading corporations. Pictured are just a few of the recent honorees. Brief summaries of many ongoing research projects start here and continue inside.

The New York State Department of Education has awarded Bronx Community College $1,383,864 in grant support for an “Institutional Improvement” directed by Carin Savage. Bryan Jones of Baruch College has received a $531,039 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “SEES Fellows: Developing New Models to Understand Human Vulnerability to Climate-related Hazards at Multiple Scales.” The U.S. Department of Education has extended $284,301 in grant funding to Lorraine Mondesir of Brooklyn College for a program titled “Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS).”

John Jay College has received a $1,133,384 grant from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene via the NYC Police Department for an “Emergency Psychological Technician (EPT) Services Program” under the direction of Debra Hairston-Parker. Robert Haralick of the Graduate School and University Center has been awarded $326,361 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for research concerning “Parameter Sets and Propa-gation of Uncertainty in a Global Terrestrial Biosphere Model: Data Mining, Diversity, and Expected.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded $2,613,661 to Reza Khanbilvardi, Samir Ahmed, and Fred Moshary of City College for the “NOAA CREST Center.” Ana Paulino of Hunter College has received $560,944 from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for a “Mental Health Scholarship Program/One Year Residency.” John Hunt of LaGuardia Community College has received two grants from the NY State Education Department: $200,000 for a “Center for Immigration Adult Literacy & Basic Adult Education,” and $100,000 for “ELL Transition to Post-Secondary Training”; as well as $149,190 from the NYC Department of Small Business Services for “ELLLPN-RN.”

Ruthann Robson, a Distinguished Professor at CUNY School of Law, was named as one of the 26 “best law teachers” in the U.S. in the book, What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard University Press, 2013). The book, which is the culmination of a four-year study to identify extraordinary law teachers, details the attributes and practices of professors who have a significant, positive and long-term effect on their students.

Fangyang Shen of New York City College of Technology has won a $774,397 grant from the National Science Foundation for “Noyce Explorers, Scholars, Teachers (NEST): Fostering the Creation of Exceptional Mathematics and Technology Teachers in New York City.” Lehman College has received a $649,989 grant from the National Science Foundation for a research project titled “IGERT – Integrative Evolutionary Primatology,” directed by Eric Delson. Patricia Schneider of Queensborough Community College has won a $361,734 grant from the National Institutes of Health for the “QCC Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program.” The National Science Foundation has awarded Feng Gu of the College of Staten Island $160,448 for research concerning “Spatial Temporal Information Fusion and Real-Time Sensor Data Assimilation Using Sequential Monte Carlo Methods.”

Jesus Angulo of Hunter College has been awarded a $2,536,906 grant from PHS/NIH/National Institute on Minority & Health Disparities for the “Research Center in Minority Institutions: Center for Gene Structure and Function”; as well as $343,086 from the Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell/NIH for a “Clinical & Translational Science Center.” The National Institutes of Health has extended $299,980 in grant support to Roberto Sanchez-Delgado of Brooklyn College for “SC1: Ruthenium-Based Antimalarial Agents.” Jeremy Kahn of the Graduate School and University Center has received a $116,288 grant from the National Science Foundation for “Finding Surface Subgroups and Virtual Immersions.”

Steven Markowitz of Queens College has been awarded three grants: $3,178,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy for “Former Worker Surveillance Program”; a two-year $547,000 grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for research on improving working conditions for immigrant construction laborers in post-disaster reconstruction; and $159,649 from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for “New York City Community Air Survey Program.” Blanche Kellawon of Bronx Community College has won a $175,000 grant from the NY State Department of State for “Institutional Improvement.”

The NY State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance extended $1,181,000 in grant funding to Stephen Adolphus of Bronx Community College for “Student Support.” Vasil Diyamandoglu of City College has received a $677,494 grant from the NYC Department of Sanitation for the “NYC Materials Exchange Development Program.” Heather Brown of Kingsborough Community College has won a $170,088 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for “Expanding Ages Served and Hours Open at Kingsborough CC’s Child Development Center.” The National Science Foundation has awarded $121,000 to Anatoly Kuklov of the College of Staten Island for a project titled “Collaborative Research: Worm Algorithm and Diagrammatic Monte Carlo in Atomic and Condensed Matter Physics.”

Denis Nash, executive officer of the Doctor of Public Health Program at the Graduate Center of the CUNY School of Public Health, and Mary Irvine of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene were recently awarded $3.1 million over five years in a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for a large-scale public health study titled “HIV Care Coordination: Comparative Effectiveness, Outcome Determinants and Costs.”

Babette Audant of Kingsborough Community College has received $3,855,652 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor for the “Northeast Resiliency Consortium.” Amy Dalsimer of LaGuardia Community College has been awarded three grants: $392,211 from the NY State Education Department for “Workforce Investment Act”; $250,920 from the NYC Office of the Mayor for an “Adult Literacy Program”; and $250,000 from the New York City Council for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival.” The National Institutes of Health has awarded $392,584 to Zahra Zakeri of Queens College for “MARC Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research at Queens College.”

Jane McKillop of LaGuardia Community College has been awarded two grants: $1,499,925 from the U.S. Department of Labor-Employment and Training for “Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College & Career Training (TAACCT)”; and $353,285 from the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City for the “CUNY Fatherhood Academy.” Paul Marchese of Queensborough Community College has received $729,955 in grant support from the NY State Education Department for “Perkins IV (CTEA).” “Overcoming Barriers and Moving Up: The Sophomore Year Initiative,” a project under the direction of Jose Magdaleno of Lehman College, has received $649,738 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Robin Hizme of Queens College has been awarded $424,196 by the NYC Board of Education for “Townsend Harris High School.”

Jonas Reitz of New York City College of Technology has received a $620,302 grant from the U.S.Department of Education-Title V (Year 3) for “A Living Laboratory: Revitalizing General Education for a 21st Century College of Technology.” The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has awarded Hunter College $453,120 for “Assessment of Service Needs to Inform Policy & Services Planning,” directed by Jonathan Prince. “Poised for Success,” under the direction of Sharon Mackey-McGee of City College, has received a $448,957 grant from the NYC Human Resources Administration. “RISE Option 2: Increasing URM Student Success in Science and Science Careers,” under the direction of Louise Hainline of Brooklyn College, has been awarded $400,353 in grant support from the National Institutes of Health.

The NY State Department of Education has awarded Queens College a $1,334,431 grant for a “Graduate Level Clinically Rich Teacher Preparation Program,” under the direction of Eleanor Armour Thomas. Lawrence Pero of Kingsborough Community College has received $1,018,843 from the NY State Education Department for “Perkins IV/CTEIA –Basic Grant.” Anne Rothstein of Lehman College has been awarded three grants from the U.S. Department of Education: $217,966 for the “Lehman College Talent Search: Pathways to Success,” $202,031 for “Student Support Services: Careers in Teaching,” and $201,834 for “Student Support Services: Pathways to Success”; as well as $101,250 from the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development for the “Lehman College – 9th Grade Transition Program.”

Mahesh K. Lakshman of City College’s chemistry department is the recipient of a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship, which is awarded to overseas researchers with outstanding records of research achievements. He will visit several Japanese universities to discuss his work and seek potential new collaborations.

Michelle J. Anderson, Dean of the CUNY School of Law, was elected a member of the American Law Institute, the nation’s leading independent organization producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. She was appointed to serve as an Advisor to the Institute’s project rewriting the Model Penal Code’s rape law provisions. Dean Anderson was also appointed to the Victim Services Subcommittee of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel, established by the Secretary of Defense and the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.